Voters back abortion rights, but some opponents won't relent. Is the commitment to democracy in question?

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Voters back abortion rights, but some opponents won’t relent. Is the commitment to democracy in question?

BY JULIE CARR SMYTH AND CHRISTINE FERNANDO
Updated 7:40 AM EST, November 19, 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy.

As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic processes and institutions they perceive as aligned against their cause.

Certain Republican elected officials and anti-abortion activists around the country have responded to losses at the ballot box by challenging election results, refusing to bring state laws into line with voter-backed changes, moving to strip state courts of their power to consider abortion-related laws and challenging the citizen-led ballot initiative process itself.

“We.Are.Not.Done.,” Ohio state Rep. Jennifer Gross declared on the social media platform X two days after voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution earlier this month. She and 25 other Republican lawmakers vowed to block the amendment from reversing Ohio’s existing abortion restrictions.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-democracy-threats-republicans-ballot-initiatives-ohio-3d6e2f0d0f5993ddd75522b662d2eb34